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Richard Chester Biggs

Male 1917 - 1997  (80 years)


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  • Name Richard Chester Biggs  [1
    Birth 12 Oct 1917  Seattle, King, Washington, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    SSN issued Bef 1951  Railroad Board (Issued Through) Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Social Security Number 700-09-5992  [1
    Death 16 Oct 1997  Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • RICHARD C. BIGGS: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

      Daily Press (Newport News, VA) - Saturday, October 18, 1997

      Deceased Name: RICHARD C. BIGGS

      WILLIAMSBURG - Ret. U.S. Army Col. Richard Chester Biggs died at Williamsburg Community Hospital on Oct. 16, 1997. He had lived in Williamsburg since 1992.

      He is survived by his beloved wife of 49 years, Katie Nettles Biggs, and three children, Richard Kirby Biggs of Falls Church, Deborah C. Biggs of Lanexa, and Timothy C. Biggs of Glen Rock, N.J.; and four grandsons, two granddaughters, and a great-grandson.

      Col. Biggs was a native of Seattle, Wash., graduating from Queen Anne High School in 1935. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Skull and Keys and other honorary societies, and captain of the Freshman Track Team. In 1939, he received a bachelor's degree and an Infantry ROTC commission.

      He began active duty in February of 1941, and was stationed with the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, at the time of the Japanese attack. He continued to serve with the regiment in Australia and through campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines until mid-1945 in positions from platoon leader to regimental executive officer.

      He held key staff positions with the U.S. Military Government Command in Korea from 1946 to 1948, including seven months as one of two U.S. XXIV Corps Liaison Officers representing the U.S. with the Soviet Union Army headquarters in Pyongyang during the early development of the North Korean armed forces and the beginning of the Cold War.

      As a Regular Army Transportation Corps officer he commanded battalion level units in Korea during the war and later in Germany, where he also became the V Corps Transportation Officer. He commanded the 4th Terminal Command at Fort Eustis from 1963 to 1964.

      He attended several Army schools, including the Army Command and General Staff College, where he also taught for four years, and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1960.

      After military retirement in 1966, he was the civilian assistant to the principal logistics officer in Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, from 1967 to 1972. He held the senior civilian logistics position in the Defense Attache Office, Saigon, from 1973 to 1974, and then served on the Army General Staff.

      In 1976, he was appointed as a GS-16 as assistant director for materiel maintenance, Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. He was later assigned as the deputy commander of the Engineer Logistics Command in Saudi Arabia, retiring from his civilian Army career in 1981.

      He was awarded the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, both with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal and numerous civilian awards from the U.S. Government and the Republic of Vietnam; and is a Distinguished Member of the Transportation Corps Regiment.

      Following his career as an Army civilian, Col. Biggs worked for a defense contractor operating the U.S. base maintenance contract in Turkey, and as a consultant with a number of other base maintenance contractors.

      During 1993 and 1994 he volunteered at Fort Eustis as a co-author of the book "Spearhead of Logistics, A History of the Transportation Corps," the definitive history of U.S. Army transportation from the Colonial period to the present.

      He served as the executive vice president of the board of directors of the Army Transportation Museum Foundation, and belonged to several professional military associations and the Christopher Wren Association. He was also a volunteer in the Elderhostel programs at the College of William and Mary.

      A funeral service will be held on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 9:45 a.m. at the Old Chapel at Fort Myer, Arlington.

      Interment will follow in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. The family will receive friends at Bucktrout of Williamsburg this afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m.

      Memorials may be made to the Army Transportation Museum Foundation, Drawer D, Fort Eustis, 23604-0320.

      Bucktrout of Williamsburg is in charge of arrangements.

      Edition: Final
      Page: C4
      Copyright (c) 1997, Daily Press Inc. All rights reserved.
    Burial 30 Oct 1997  Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Person ID I30398  tng Genealogy

    Family Katie Lee Nettles,   b. 2 May 1924, Lake Butler, Union, Florida, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Nov 2014, Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 90 years) 
    Marriage 17 Aug 1948  Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Timothy Christopher Biggs,   b. 10 Dec 1956, Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 27 Jan 2001, New Jersey, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
     2. Living
     3. Living
    Family ID F10477  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 12 Oct 1917 - Seattle, King, Washington, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 17 Aug 1948 - Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 30 Oct 1997 - Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S344] Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2009;), Database online. Number: 700-09-5992; Issue State: Railroad Board (Issued Through); Issue Date: Before 1951.
      Record for Richard C. Biggs
      http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ssdi&h=4770206&indiv=try
      http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ssdi&h=4770206&indiv=try

    2. [S122] FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49122438
      http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=49122438.
      http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=49122438